Trailer Hitch Installed on XR

[John Brennan]

Not, however, a turbocharged car.

[Colin]

Turn the boost down or install a larger turbo, or both.

Colin

[vcallaway]

I think I would be more concerned about the transmission than the turbo. Especially an automatic.

A friend made a comment a bit back about the difference between driving here (WA) and the UK. If I drive for three hours here I'm potentially still in the same state. In the UK you drive for three hours you've crossed several countries. I don't think towing a caravan on a 10k mile trip would happen in the UK, but would not be uncommon in the US.

[merkurmaniac]

Looks to me like the base XR in that picture from Brad needs to adjust his front coilovers. heh heh....

Actually, it would be funny to see the guy unhook his caravan and have the back end of the Sierra stay at the same height.... The other caravan drivers look over.... what the ??? Oh, I have Rapidoh stock ride height springs.... heh heh.. Gonna shim the rear for camber... (Mine sagged sorta bad in the 10 years I had them. Not that bad, of course.)

[MerlinMerkur]

I know this is a very old thread but I saw an unmentioned facet I had to fill in.
As for towing with an XR or any turbo, and for "Manufacturer say NO!", weight is weight. Take a peek at the max load capacites of the car, say 800lbs for the XR, which is me and 3 of my friends lol... yeah well one of them is "hefty" I put him in the right rear, skinny friend gets the opposing, the one my size gets shot gun lol...
Point is.. How the fart can my XR tell the difference if I have fat friends or im pulling a 16' aluminum boat.. or a small cargo trailer... It cant, and Ford cant tell me I cant have fat friends!! Shoot they advertised the nice cargo room of the XR with the fold-down rear seats.. all that space filled with crap has weight!
800lbs is 800lbs. Braking, tongue weight on rear suspension.. all minor obstacles (effect towing and fat friends the same).
Personally after seeing a full cooler move the rear suspension down on a stock XR I wouldnt put 300lbs of tongue weight on it for long lol.. BUT..
Something to think about if you have questions.

BTW, I am not stating that any reference in this post as to the weight of a man is "fat" as if that were an offensive condition, so dont get whiny!
I am fat! There!

[bw_krupp]

Theres a difference between 1000 lbs in the car and 1000 lbs being suspended on a seperate axle attached to the car. I would venture to guess that the impact of extra weight on a trailer is less than that same weight in the car. Besides, whats an '88 TC weigh with all the options? 3800 lbs? Plus another 800 on top of that?

As to why manufacturers say no-no to pulling a trailer with a sports-saloon car, I would think it would be self explanatory. Attach trailer to car. Drive too fast, wimpy stock brakes fail to stop in time, get in wreck. Sue manufacturer.

[DPDISXR4Ti]

Theres a difference between 1000 lbs in the car and 1000 lbs being suspended on a seperate axle attached to the car. I would venture to guess that the impact of extra weight on a trailer is less than that same weight in the car.

Agree and disagree. Towing a trailer is a multi-dimensional dynamic, placing a variety of forces on the tow vehicle. It can't be directly compared to simply (over)loading up a car.

Besides, whats an '88 TC weigh with all the options? 3800 lbs? Plus another 800 on top of that?

Not really a valid comparison - totally different vehicle. The only thing that the TC has in common with the XR is the engine, and that's just one element of what makes a good/bad tow vehicle.

[milehighXR]

Conventional Wisdom says you never tow anything with an XR-- you'll be under
boost constantly, like always going uphill-- unless it were extremely light...

thats what i thought too

Y'all are over-reacting. People put 2.3T motors in Rangers, don't they? Those things weigh almost 1000 lbs more than an XR
before anything even gets thrown in the bed or attached to the hitch. Haven't you ever had three fat people in the car with
you?

They werent, fat, but my rear springs are so worn I bottomed out at every intersection Boy I thought I got $#!* for wanting to tow with a Scorpio, thanks for taking the heat off me Brad

[DPDISXR4Ti]

Ironcially enough, I was just reading an article about GM possibly bringing the Holden Ute to the US within the next couple years. They indicated that it was pretty much the same vehicle as the sedan and wagon, so additional crash-testing wouldn't be required. They went on to say that the biggest difference with the Ute was the rear spring package, which was 60% higher than the sedan and wagon.

[MerlinMerkur]

Theres a difference between 1000 lbs in the car and 1000 lbs being suspended on a seperate axle attached to the car. I would venture to guess that the impact of extra weight on a trailer is less than that same weight in the car.

Agree and disagree. Towing a trailer is a multi-dimensional dynamic, placing a variety of forces on the tow vehicle. It can't be directly compared to simply (over)loading up a car.

Besides, whats an '88 TC weigh with all the options? 3800 lbs? Plus another 800 on top of that?

Not really a valid comparison - totally different vehicle. The only thing that the TC has in common with the XR is the engine, and that's just one element of what makes a good/bad tow vehicle.

Well yes, but thats to say that weight behind the car would only be easier on it than in the car because alot of the weight (save whats on the tongue) is over the trailers axle, not the cars. If you had brakes on the trailer, your that much better, could even help stop the car lol. Course that doesnt help you pull, thats where the turbo comes in. Now Ford didnt say "don't tow" I think as much as they said "dont operate under sustained boost", which you would if towing any more than some chunky passengers.
But again, we know its not the engine, Tbird etc other cars started with curb weights 5-600lbs more than the XR so we have an advantage already, Tbirds also used the smaller turbo so thats not it.. Im guessing its the T9 in the XR they feared lol.. and rightly so, we already know that.
That Capri in the pic and Tbirds had the T5 variants, so they could tow.

So, that the XR is not recommended for towing is probably more a combination of braking (normally upgraded) and driveline components (T5), maybe suspension ALSO being marginal.. -dangit Ford... grr-, but again many of us did away with stock on that stuff too!

So if you followed the paved path like most of you have or want to, you can tow better than the Capri/Tbirds can! You'll have the same or better braking ability AND same trans, with less GVW of your own. Add in the Poly bushings and stiffer springs we "race" into our XRs and I have my new Subaru Boat-car!! Just not All wheel... BUT.. I can change that too!! Woooot!

What am I leaving out?
See.. for all you who I know tow crap with your trucks... now you have a reason to your better halves to "upgrade" hehe.. so you can tow!!
"It's my work car babe!! Its a valuable money making tool!! Have to spend money to make money"
YYYEeess!!

[SvoSierra]

Update! I actually finished the project. I've long since abandoned direct photos, but you can see the Google photos link below, and I can update it if needed.

I started with Brad's install, and used the included brackets and hardware on the ends bolted to the frame for the needed strength. The hitch receiver mashes tightly against the aluminum core, so I had to bend the cover around it. Next time I will likely notch out the bumper cover for a better fit. Time was a factor so I just bent it for now. Technically it might be possible to do this without removing the bumper cover, but removing it makes it a lot easier, especially when fumbling with the inverted U bolts. Also note that I didn't (couldn't) use the chain hooks due to interference with the bumper cover. Notching the cover may remedy that. For now I just stretched the chains to the front of the receiver hole.

I've been pulling about 500 pounds lately (150 trailer, 175 dinghy), (100 outboard and 75 misc in hatch) with no major problems. I think wind resistance is my biggest issue. At 75 MPH on flat ground I'm holding just a little vacuum. Any hills or throttle at all and I am in the boost. I try to keep it at 0 most of the time though for the best efficiency. Again, just use common sense. This thing will be great on the future V8 XR.

https://goo.gl/photos/TSyrGxCSRWks5UzbA

Note: if you are getting a used hitch, be sure it has 2 sets of "Z" brackets included in the kit to be safe. Only one set works like pictured. Ensuring the kit is new and in the box is the safest way to go.

[DPDISXR4Ti]

I started with Brad's install, and used the included brackets and hardware on the ends bolted to the frame for the needed strength.

Thanks for updating this 12+ year-old thread! I still have this hitch - haven't done thing with it since test-fitting it. I wonder how it would fit on the Brat - might have to try it - at least a hitch would look a bit more at home on a "truck".

[andyofcolumbusmerkur]

I think it would be worth disconnecting the wastegate actuator rod (pull clip). Then you wouldn't boost, wouldn't use extra fuel and you could put it back in if you needed to get up a large hill.

[milehighXR]

Reviving this for a few reasons:


1 Brad, there was no Scorpio hitch that was factory installed, however there were aftermarket ones. I had picked one up from i can't remember who now. It was all one piece(could not remove ball), and it bolted onto the frame. The holes did exist in the body(IIRC, I never did install it before I got out of Scorpios). This hitch was imported from Europe. I never did find a US spec equivalent to it that had a removeable ball. Darren(focusSVT) has that hitch now IIRC.

2 My(and I have advised him of all the above concerns about towing with an XR) wants to pull a 5x8 enclosed trailer behind his XR. The hitch you put on yers brad will not work for that.

Is there a bolt on hitch similar to the Scorpio I reference above(I need to find pics of that) available for the XR.

[DPDISXR4Ti]

1 Brad, there was no Scorpio hitch that was factory installed, however there were aftermarket ones. I had picked one up from i can't remember who now. It was all one piece(could not remove ball), and it bolted onto the frame. The holes did exist in the body(IIRC, I never did install it before I got out of Scorpios). This hitch was imported from Europe. I never did find a US spec equivalent to it that had a removeable ball. Darren(focusSVT) has that hitch now IIRC.

Would you believe I now own this hitch!? Indeed Darren owned it, then it went to Bart when he sold the Scorpio; the Scorpio that now resides in my basement with a crazy paint job. The challenge with that hitch is that it's designed for the Euro Scorpio/Granada, which has a somewhat different floorpan/bumper configuration from the Merkur Scorpio. As such, it won't mount up without some modifications. And then yes, (optional) part two modification would be replacing the fixed ball-mount with a conventional US spec 1.25 or 2" receiver. Suffice it to say, none of that has happened yet. Considering that I'd only want the hitch for light towing or holding a bike rack, it would probably be easier to go a different direction.

Back in-line a little more with the subject heading (trailer hitch on a XR), there is little in common between a XR and Scorpio when it comes to hitch mounting, especially one that uses the bumper mounts. In that regard, the XR and Scorpio are very different.